Sports Vouchers

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing. Can the minister inform the house how the government is getting more kids active by lowering costs?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:48): I thank the member for King for her question and acknowledge her passion for her community, in particular young people playing sport. I know that she would be very impressed with what the Premier had to say as well because she is very keen about more jobs, lower costs and better services.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: What we are talking about here are lower costs to South Australians, and families in particular. What better way to invest than actually getting our young people active and helping families pay for their sporting costs. We know that that is an inhibitor to some young families—having their kids pay—so helping with sporting fees really is a great outcome here.

Of course, the Marshall Liberal government went to the election committed to increasing the sports vouchers to $100, and I know that in the member for King's electorate a lot of people have taken that up, and that is really good to see. In fact, across South Australia we have had more than 15,700 people take up these sports vouchers, which is a huge growth on last year. That's over $1.5 million back in the pockets of South Australians. So putting money back in the pockets of South Australian families really is an outstanding benefit.

I mentioned again some of the sports in the member for King's electorate, and I will just list them off: gymnastics is No. 1 in taking up the vouchers at the moment and AFL—I would suggest hinged around the AFLW and the success of the Crows—is No. 2. We added dance to the mix this year as well just to stretch the opportunities even further, and the uptake on dance has been fantastic.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I hear the member for Lee making comments on the other side. He might not like this policy, Mr Speaker, but I can tell you people in his electorate do. Can I also say, No. 4—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated one moment; there is a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This is clearly debate and offensive, sir.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. In fairness to the minister, I believe the member for Lee was provoking the minister. That is not an excuse for responding to interjections, but I ask the minister not to deviate and to stick to the substance of the question. Thank you.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Thank, you, Mr Speaker. I do really appreciate that. So we are running through them: gymnastics, AFL, dance, and soccer is at No. 4 in the member for King's electorate. I talk about gymnastics at the top because a lot of the gymnasts come from the Tea Tree Gully Gymsports club. I know that the member for Newland as well is heavily involved—two great members doing wonderful work together for their community. They are outstanding.

Ms Bedford interjecting:

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: And Florey.

Ms Bedford interjecting:

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Stand by, I am coming to you on calisthenics in a second. I am talking about the member for Newland and also the member for King and the Tea Tree Gully Gymsports group. I know that the member for Newland helped them get a $20,000 grant to respring their floor. There are so many kids out there doing gymnastics, it is outstanding.

I was at the Gymnastics SA awards night recently, and Russell D'Costa, the chairman of Gymnastics SA, stood up and made a speech. It was great to be there and to be a part of this event. In fact, a few people from the Tea Tree Gully Gymsports group won awards that night, which was great to see as well. Russell stood up and the first thing he spoke about was this $100 voucher. We are putting money back in the pockets of families to allow these kids to partake.

I was a little bit chuffed, obviously, that he made mention of that given that it was our policy that we took to the election. I was probably more chuffed when everyone stood up and clapped. It was quite phenomenal. They were so appreciative of this policy, and we are glad that it is helping people get back into sport and getting young people active.

I want also to talk about the AV Millennium Calisthenics group at Broadview. They do dancing out there. I went out there when we announced that dance was also part of this, and I want to mention Vanessa Pironi and her daughters, Olivia and Mia. I want to quote Mrs Pironi when this $100 voucher came in. She said:

I have to say a lot of us dance mums were very excited come first of January this year now that dance is also listed. We have just come off Christmas, then back to school and registrations, costumes, term one fees all due at the same time so it is the perfect opportunity to use the vouchers.

It was the perfect opportunity to be helping families and lowering costs, and that is what we are about.

Mr Picton interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is warned for a second and final time. The member for Reynell has the call.